Keshubhai all set to conquer Queen’s English

Pat came Patel’s: “We should be proud of te Gujarati language, but we will show the world that we can be at home with English. And learning English doesn’t mean we are not swadeshi.” Sounds unusual indeed, coming from this leading exponent of swadeshi.“This is a bold policy statement, in the light of the fact that past governments in Gujarat have been largely anti-English. The need to break out of the mould has been recognised,” says Atanu Chakravarty, Director of Employment and Training, which is coordinating the English course. “The idea is to learn English as a skill and not as a culture,” he says.

The Chief Minister wants his state to be an IT superpower and can’t stomach the fact that Chandrababu Naidu’s Andhra Pradesh is walking away with all the credit. So what if Keshubhai can’t make a power point presentation, he can still hold meetings with Bill Gates and read out an English speech.

“Our boys are equally talented as others and can better everyone in IT, but feel inferior for they don’t know fluent English,” Keshubhai, who fervently hopes that the three-month course would bridge the gap, remarks to all and sundry. If you have passed HSC in Gujarati medium, you can enrol in the course till you turn 35. Women can learn English absolutely free till they are 45 years of age; for widows and divorcees the age limit is 55. Thehandicapped, too can learn English free, till they are 45 years old.

Coordinated by the Directorate of Employment and Training, the course will berun by selected private English coaching institutes and Industrial Training Institutes in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Nadiad, Vapi, Gandhinagar, Junagadh, Amreli and Dhoraji.

Chakravarty is optimistic that the course will generate a good response, just like the 15 short-term computer courses in the state which have enrolled a mind-boggling 1.88 lakh students in less than a year. The target is to train two lakh students in computers and IT-related courses by March.

The massive enrolment in computer courses too forms a proud aspect of Patel’s speeches at IT events. “And why not, who teaches such courses to common people at an unbelievable monthly fee of just 40 bucks a day?” says A B Trivedi, Technical Officer at the Directorate of Employment and Training.

English to be compulsory subject in schools
GANDHINAGAR, NOV 27: The state government has decided to make English a compulsory subject from class V in all schools across the State. At present, it is being taught as an optional subject in these schools.

Education Minister Anandiben Patel said yesterday that the decision would be implemented from the current academic year. The decision follows a recommendation to this effect by the Gujarat Educational Research and Training Council.